PHE centre leads update - Yorkshire and Humberside

Healthy Living/Wellbeing services workshop PHE Yorkshire and Humberside centre

PHE Yorkshire and Humberside centre recently hosted an integrated healthy living/wellbeing services workshop. This was held in response to a number of local authority teams seeking to scope, review and share thinking on local commissioning arrangements. Areas are looking to move away from a silo approach in the provision of individual lifestyle services and shift to working with individuals in a holistic way. However, this approach is still being developed in many areas, hence the focus on sharing planning and operational as well as strategic thinking.

The workshop facilitated discussion around the possibility of local authorities in Yorkshire and Humberside commissioning inclusive wellness services such as smoking cessation, alcohol identification and brief advice, healthy weight, NHS Health Check, sexual health, mental health first aid and physical activity. Self-care factors largely in the ongoing sustainability of wellness services; this is something that local authorities are keen to develop so the inclusion of the concept of self-help is one that is welcomed.

As a number of local authorities are implementing integrated healthy living/wellbeing services, this is an opportunity to consider broader place-based working, informed by local need but also learning from early adopters. A number of areas across the country have implemented this way of commissioning services: the North East has some excellent examples of commissioning services in an integrated way and this is something that we are looking to replicate in Yorkshire and Humberside.

A community of practice is being established to assist in the development of integrated healthy living/wellbeing services across Yorkshire and the Humber. This online facility will help in the dissemination of information, as well as collaboration on specifications, emerging evidence and shared learning. We will also seek evaluation support from academic colleagues regionally. To support this, the health and wellbeing lead is coordinating the development of a service specification template that can be used by any local areas interested in commissioning integrated healthy living or wellbeing services.